How Hotels Are Going Green for Guests - 3 views
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I make a quick stop for goodies and feel like I’ve entered a miniature Whole Foods: bulk nuts, dried fruit, even local chocolate and salsa from (according to the salesperson) the Lexington farmers’ market.
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Filtered water pours into the sink, under which I find two bins for recyclables. The toilets are dual-flush, the showers are low-flow, the shampoo and conditioner are in bulk dispensers, and the bellhop tells me that the art on my walls, depicting a leaf motif, was crafted from recycled aluminum and car tires.
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I can grab one of the gratis bikes downstairs and go for a spin on the nearby bike trail into town, or take a dip in the pool that’s cleaned with saline salt solution instead of eye-burning chlorine.
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Owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Element is the first chain to receive an LEED-certified gold rating, the second-highest standard bestowed on a building by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
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212-room property, including saving water and electricity, recycling paper and implementing the towel and linen reuse program now common in most hotels across the country.
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“It’s a 2 to 3 percent premium above the total cost of the building to go the LEED-certified route,” he says, adding that he hopes to offset that cost from the operational side in the next three to four years.
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Energy savings include keeping electricity down to a minimum through natural lights and the use of CFL bulbs, low-flow showers and dual-flush toilets that save approximately 942,000 gallons of water annually at Element Lexington, and a roofing material that reflects heat from the sun, so the hotel won’t tax its air-conditioning system in the summer. Keeping with LEED standards, Element also purchases energy that comes from a green source: the wind.
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says it’s hard to find a resort that actually practices what it preaches. “Seeing if they have LEED is one criterion, but you still have to do your research.”
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Green Seal has also been vocal in its assessment that a typical average-size lodging uses more resources in a week than 100 families use in a year.
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Indeed, government incentives and big business could very well be behind this latest surge in new hotel design.
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“We heard from our global accounts, players like Microsoft, AT&T and Hewlett-Packard, that their goal was to find a hotel company that had some sort of green program in place,” says Brian McGuinness, “and we realized we need to do this.”
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According to Arthur Weissman, this new initiative has led to an increase in revenue for hotels that join the movement. “The Doubletree in Portland, Oregon, told us they received more than $3 million in business due to their green certification,” notes Weissman.
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But what about the typical traveler who simply wants a decent shower, a comfortable bed and perhaps a workout before turning in for the night? Workers who have no corporate mandate to go green are known to be extravagant when away from home, indulging in energy-chugging hot tubs and (dare I say it?) forgetting to turn off the lights and the A/C when they leave their rooms.
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There’s certainly room for more growth in Element’s green design, such as the use of solar panels to heat the pool and the incorporation of a master switch, which many hotels in Europe already have.
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The latter works by simply inserting your room key into a switch inside the room that turns on the electricity, heat and water. When you leave the room, you have to take that room key with you, thus turning off all the appliances.
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“We’re just trying to do the right thing,” says McGuinness. “At the very least, we’re at the entry level: eco-friendly and not increasing the carbon footprint.” It may not be a green revolution quite yet, but it seems like a darn good starting point.
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This article is all about hotels going green and trying to get LEED certified. The one Boston hotel is doing things like having dual flush toilets, low flow showers, shampoo and conditioner in bulk dispensers, and a roofing material that reflects the sun to save energy costs. Another thing involved with getting LEED certified is getting energy from abouther source, this particular hotel is using the wind. It is expensive to do and doesnt appeal to everyone, hotel managers must figure out whats in the best interest for them and getting people in and out of their hotel.
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This article deals with how hotels are going green. Many have the typical saving shower head, the double flush toilet, or the special roof panels. Some go a little further than just putting a garbage bin to recycle. Many hotels are now placing cards in the rooms asking if you want linens changed when they clean the room, and for example may ask you to do something specific like throw the towels on the floor. While it may be an expensive thing to start turning hotels into green hotels, profits are being seen as big companies are now pushing their employees to stay at green hotels versus non green hotels. This may be the extra push management needs to make the decision to go green. Also, it says not all customers may care about the green issue, but some may try. We just need to find a balance and not expect all people on vacation to be a happy go lucky green freak.
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To add onto Marilyns comment, not only are hotels doing the basics to go green, but a lot of hotels in california are taking the extra step, such as The Kimpton Hotels, and The orchard. They have changed the carpets and wallpaper for lower emission. They added recycle bins in every room in all 40 of their hotels across the country. Lastly, and one of the the additions I find most beneficial is their implementation of key card energy control, where a room key will be needed to activate the electricity in each room, and also shutting all electricity off when they leave.
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This article is about how starwood hotels are trying to become fullscale eco-friendly but some are hotels are only greenwashing. This article is stating that it is not enough to use one green practice and call yourself an eco-friendly hotel.